Sinn Féin - On Your Side

We need less nuclear power plants not more - Mary Lou McDonald

Sinn Féin National Chairperson and MEP for Dublin Mary Lou McDonald has this
morning welcomed a party delegation to the European Parliament in Brussels
to discuss the issue of the Sellafield Nuclear reprocessing plant and the
wider issue of nuclear power. They will meet MEPs from five different EU
countries representing three groupings in the European Parliament.

The meetings come against the backdrop of the most recent debate in Britain
around the issue of nuclear power.

Speaking today Ms McDonald said:

"The current debate on nuclear power which is re-emerging in Britain and the
EU is quite alarming. Sinn Féin believes in a nuclear free EU and a nuclear
free world. We should be seeking to decommission existing nuclear
facilities, not build more of them. We favour a shift towards efficient and
cost-effective renewable energy with a particular emphasis on solar and wind
power.

"There is a concern that there is currently an attempt to re-package nuclear
energy and present it as green energy.

"Communities up and down the eastern Irish seaboard will undoubtedly be
concerned about the re-opening of this debate, considering that the majority
of Britain's current nuclear facilities are sited a few short miles from the
Irish coast.

Speaking today Arthur Morgan TD said:

"Today's series of meetings represents a proactive initiative to garner
European support for action against the Sellafield nuclear facility in
North-Western England. This facility remains the most unsafe nuclear site in
Western Europe and is characterised by a catalogue of errors, safety lapses
and failure to comply with EU inspection rules. We will continue to build
alliances to force the closure of this facility and to promote a clean green
alternative to nuclear power." ENDS